Browning's bicentenary is worth celebrating

John Dugdale is quite right to point out that Browning has been overshadowed by Dickens in their bicentenary year (Review: The week in books, 5 May), but this is not for lack of attempts on the part of the Browning Society and others to mark the occasion. Your readers may be interested to know that the bicentenary of Browning's birth was celebrated on 16 April at Kings Place, London, in a programme dedicated to "the Pied Piper of Hamelin". And an evensong will be held at St Marylebone Parish Church on Sunday 13 May at 5pm, to commemorate the occasion and will include an address by Margaret Reynolds as well as the re-dedication of the altar before which Browning and Elizabeth Barrett were married in that church. Furthermore, Browning's connections with Oxford will be examined during a presentation at Balliol College in September. And for the academic community, conferences have been scheduled on both sides of the Atlantic for later this year (28–30 June and 1–3 November). In fact, the UK conference will focus on a reassessment of the dramatic monologue, which poetic form Browning mastered if not invented. Details for these events can be found at www.browningsociety.org. Mr Dugdale is quite right that there is much about Browning's life to celebrate. Hopefully he would agree that these events are a fitting tribute to a poetic career that continues to inspire many.Scott LewisPresident, The Browning Society

• I agree wholeheartedly with Mary Reynolds that Robert Browning was a "great and brave writer", but disagree that he had a less exciting life than Charles Dickens. I refer, of course, to his love of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and their elopement to Italy. This is surely just the sort of drama to feed today's love of celebrity. Putting this aspect aside, it would be gratifying if he were also remembered for his passionate support of his wife's vocation. This was a rarity in Victorian Britain and is by no means universal in 2012.Julia KingBrighton